Hey dude, first off, welcome to the club!
Very similar to you as to when I started getting into this. I really enjoy the landyachtz videos (I don't own one of their boards) :
For me, practicing foot stopping over and over was key to getting comfortable. You really have to bend your knees more than you think. Then the more you skate, the more you'll get comfortable with speed. I know, duh, but the thing to keep in mind is those of us who take it up as adults are different than adults who "get back into it." No muscle memory to go back to, and now that we're older, our progress is slower. So during warmer months I try to set an 'every day' goal of getting on the board. Maybe some days its just 10 minutes. Other days shoot for an hour. But every day, a little something.
In terms of stopping for a long time every time I went out, I would just start out with get going, stop under control. Repeat. Add a little speed and you can use the foot drags to slow down w/o stopping all the way. Have fun!